St. Pat’s Day Parade set for March 12 in downtown Rolla

The 103^rd Annual St. Pat’s Day Parade, one of the oldest and most celebrated St. Pat’s Parades in the state of Missouri, will be held Saturday, March 12 at 11 a.m. on Pine Street in downtown Rolla.

   Immediately following the parade the 103^rd Annual Best Ever St. Pat’s Concert will feature the band “Reel Big Fish,” at the Rolla Downtown Bandshell located at the corner of 9^th and Oak Streets near the railroad tracks. The concert is free and open to the public, and food and drinks will be available for purchase.

   One unusual aspect of the St. Pat’s Parade is that the surface of Pine Street is actually painted green beginning at 6:30 a.m. the day of the parade. The St. Pat’s Street Painting Event, sponsored by the St. Pat’s Board, includes the volunteer services of several students from Missouri S&T that apply the water-based green paint with large mops, and buckets so Pine Street properly painted green for the parade later that morning at 11 a.m.

   St. Pat’s Court will arrive at the bandshell in the City’s Downtown Festival Park on Wednesday, March 9 at 12-noon. St. Pat’s Court Arrival begins between at 11:45 a.m. at the south end of Pine Street where they will proceed through the downtown area to the bandshell at 12-noon.

   The St. Pat’s Coronation and Knighting Ceremony will be held on Friday, March 11 at 9 p.m. in Leach Theatre, located in the Castleman Hall Performing Arts Center on the Missouri S&T Campus at the corner of 10^th and Main Streets.

   The 103rd St. Patrick’s Grand Ball, sponsored by the Ladies of Coterie, will be held Saturday, March 12 beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the St. Pat’s Ballroom at the Havener Center, located on the Missouri S&T Campus. The St. Pat’s Ball honors a great Rolla tradition with a delightful evening of dinner and dancing on the Missouri S&T Campus. To make your reservations to attend, visit http://coterie.mst.edu/programs/StPatsBall.html.

   The tradition of St. Patrick’s Day has been celebrated in Rolla for over a century. St. Patrick, the patron saint of engineers, marked his first Rolla celebration in 1908 on what was then the Missouri School of Mines campus. Engineers rallied around St. Pat and began what is now one of the most noted and oldest St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the nation.

   For more information regarding the St. Pat’s Parade and related events and festivities, please visit the St. Pat’s Board homepage online at http://stpats.mst.edu/events.